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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28268511">Rats and Bats and Possums</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiotFalling/pseuds/RiotFalling'>RiotFalling</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>StarkBucks Bingo 2020 [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Paranormal Investigators, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Pining</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:13:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,246</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28268511</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiotFalling/pseuds/RiotFalling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky and Tony are trying to find ghosts. Mostly this means they trudge around broken down houses getting attacked by vermin, but Bucky isn’t actually complaining.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>StarkBucks Bingo 2020 [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1738372</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>100</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020, StarkBucksBingo2020, Tony Stark Bingo Mark IV</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Rats and Bats and Possums</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Title: Rats and Bats and Possums<br/>Collaborator(s): Riot<br/>BBB Square Filled: B5, Pining<br/>SBB Square Filled: I1, Paranormal Investigator<br/>TSB (card 4052) Square Filled: K5, Safe as houses<br/>Ship/Main Pairing: WinterIron<br/>Rating: T<br/>Major Tags/Warnings: Humor, fluff, pining<br/>Summary: Bucky and Tony are trying to find ghosts. Mostly this means they trudge around broken down houses getting attacked by vermin, but Bucky isn’t actually complaining.<br/>Word Count: 1.2k</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A loud thud sounds out in the hallway and Tony launches himself at Bucky with a soft shriek, practically climbing up onto his shoulders.</p><p>“Tony,” Bucky says with a soft huff, “I am holding a camera.”</p><p>“Forget the camera, hold<em> me,”</em> Tony demands in a whine that echoes eerily in the empty, dust-covered room.</p><p>"Are you going to buy me a new camera when I drop this one?" Bucky asks, turning his head enough to shoot Tony an unimpressed look over his shoulder.</p><p>"I'll build you a new camera," Tony offers after a second of thought, but reluctantly unwraps himself from Bucky’s shoulders and steps away.</p><p>"The last scanner you made electrocuted the fuck out of me,” Bucky can’t help pointing out.</p><p>"I told you to watch the loose wires!" Tony says with a roll of his eyes, like that's a reasonable instruction, and Bucky can’t help a soft huff of laughter.</p><p>Tony stays close as they head out into the hallway and move towards the next room, practically plastered against Bucky's side even as he mutters to himself and fiddles with the dials on his own scanner. Bucky doesn't complain, just gently tugs on Tony's arm to steer him away from a hole in the floor and then tries to ignore the way his heart lurches in his chest when Tony shoots him a grateful smile.</p><p>For about the millionth time, Bucky considers asking how Tony even decided to get into the ghost hunting game, when he's so jumpy and high strung even before he gets in his tenth cup of coffee of the day, but for the millionth time Bucky dismisses the idea. As curious as he is, he doesn’t want to run the risk of Tony rethinking his life choices and <em>leaving.</em></p><p>Not that Bucky actually plans on <em>doing anything </em>about his gigantic crush, because Tony is one of the few people who don’t look at Bucky like he’s crazy for building his entire life around ghost hunting. And it’s nice to have a partner, Tony builds half of their gear these days even if some of it <em>is </em>questionably safe, and despite his overall jumpiness and empty complaints, Tony is always willing to follow Bucky into just about any creepy structure he finds.</p><p>More than that though, Tony just makes this job more <em>fun. </em>Bucky doesn’t want to risk ruining that.</p><p>They go over the next room without incident, although it does take a while for Tony to finally un-cling himself from Bucky’s side, wandering around and poking at things when his curiosity apparently becomes too strong to resist.</p><p>Bucky has to drag himself away from watching Tony peek into the closet while simultaneously standing as far away from the doorway as possible, mumbling to himself about evidence of rats. Bucky ducks his chin down to try and hide the fond smile that he’s helpless to hide, as well as the flush that starts on his cheeks when he belatedly remembers he’s still holding the camera.</p><p>It’s a good thing usually he’s the one going through all the raw footage, or Tony would absolutely catch on to the amount of time Bucky spends just watching him like a sap.</p><p>“Okay, I think we just have the attic left,” Bucky says once they finish with the last bedroom, and then laughs at the look on Tony’s face.</p><p>Bucky has to stretch up onto his toes to reach the half-rotted string for the ladder and he ignores the choked noise that Tony makes, assuming it was meant as further protest. The rickety stairs clatter down loudly and Bucky winces at the cloud of dust it stirs up from the bare wood floor.</p><p>“I do not trust these stairs,” Tony says, giving them a suspicious look and poking at them with the toe of one shoe, “There’s no way these are structurally sound.”</p><p>“I’ve climbed worse and they held,” Bucky says with a shrug, and then grins when Tony jerks his head up to give him a horrified look. “Want me to test ‘em?” He asks with a huff of laughter.</p><p>“I want you to <em>not die </em>from rotten wood,” Tony protests, but Bucky is already climbing the sharply slanted stairs.</p><p>They do creak a little concerningly under his weight, but they hold, and Bucky will deny forever that the worried noises Tony makes at him the entire time make his chest feel all warm and fuzzy.</p><p>Once he successfully makes it to the attic without the stairs collapsing out from under him Bucky grins down at Tony and says “See, safe as houses."</p><p>"Please stop saying that while we are in <em>literal haunted houses!" </em>Tony says with a glare, but he starts climbing the stairs too, flashlight shoved between his teeth.</p><p>Bucky has to tear his eyes away.</p><p>“If there are bats up here, I’m using you as a human shield,” Tony says as he reaches the top of the ladder and looks around at the tarp-covered furniture and low ceiling.</p><p>“So just like last time,” Bucky says with a snort, and Tony shoots him a bright grin.</p><p>They don’t find anything in the attic either.</p><p>"Damnit, I just wanna find a ghost!" Tony sighs as he shoves his scanner back into his tool belt, stomping his foot a little and then making a face when even that brings up a cloud of dust.</p><p>"Why?” Bucky asks before he can stop himself, and so much for not questioning the good things that stumble into his garage one day asking if he needs any help.</p><p>"For science!" Tony says, like that’s enough of an answer on it’s own, and Bucky grins a little wider because he supposes for Tony it is.</p><p>Something rustles the tarps piled up in the corner, and Tony leaps at him with another shriek.</p>
<hr/><p>The owners of the new ‘fixer-upper’ house meet them outside.</p><p>“Well, is it haunted?!” one of them asks, shuffling their feet on the cracked sidewalk.</p><p>“Yes,” Bucky says, hitching Tony up a little higher on his back, “With possums.”</p><p><em>“Mean</em> possums,” Tony adds, tightening his legs a little around Bucky’s waist.</p><p>One of the owners looks disappointed, probably the one who insisted on emailing them in the first place, if Bucky had to guess, while the other just looks disgusted.</p><p>“Luckily, we know some <em>excellent </em>exterminators,” Tony says, and this time he leaves off that it won’t do much to help with the rest of the problems in the house. Apparently he’s learned since last time, when he almost got a lawn gnome thrown at his head.</p><p>“I’ll email you the list,” Bucky tells them and starts carrying Tony back to the car, in no hurry to put him down and lose Tony’s arms around him, Tony’s chin resting comfortably on his shoulder. </p><p>He <em>is </em>in a hurry to get out of here though, people tend to get grumpy when it turns out their house <em>isn’t </em>haunted.</p><p>”We should get pizza,” Tony says decisively, kicking his foot a little so his heel knocks against Bucky’s thigh, “To celebrate another house successfully un-haunted.”</p><p>“Yeah, we worked real hard,” Bucky says with a snort, ducking his chin to hide another wide smile.</p><p>They do go get pizza though, and then eat it side by side sitting on the trunk of Bucky’s shitty car. Tony bumps their shoulders together as he explains a new idea he had, smiling the entire time, and Bucky firmly reminds himself it’s <em>not </em>a date.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And yes, I DO already have a sequel planned, because I cannot resists haha</p></blockquote></div></div>
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